Stories from Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Judge declines to step aside in drug case where he OK'd search(03/17/10)A drug defendant's attorney last week asked her client's judge to refrain from presiding over the trial because he'd signed the search warrant used to find cocaine, but the judge declined to grant her request. Among Judge Robert Crigler's reasons for not recusing himself as requested by defense attorney LaShawn Williams of the L.A. Williams law firm, was a Tennessee Supreme Court ruling provided by Assistant District Attorney Eddie Barnard...

Anti-drug coalition could be goal(03/17/10)Marshall County could form an anti-drug coalition, but it will take someone with "fire in the belly" to make the first move. This was the message that Pam White, executive director of Community Anti-Drug Coalitions Across Tennessee (CADCAT), brought to the spring meeting of the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Task Force...

Chapel Hill hires firm to catch scofflaws(03/17/10)CHAPEL HILL -- Motorists passing through this northern Marshall County town won't be getting away with not paying traffic tickets anymore, not if the town's new contractor has anything to do with it. The Board of Mayor and Aldermen has authorized a contract for the town with a company called Solutia and it's supposed to find the scofflaws and make them an offer they might see as advantageous in the long run, according to discussion during this month's meeting of the board...

Briefs(03/17/10)The Genesco Employee Reunion will be held Saturday, April 17, at the Lewisburg Recreation Center. For more information, call Gene Parsons at 359-5175. Lewisburg Christian Academy, a non-denominational Christian school, is accepting applications for kindergarten and grades 1 and 2. Applications may be obtained daily from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Lifesong Family Church, 1041 S. Ellington Pkwy, Lewisburg. For more information, call 931-246-9522...

Doubt cast on Siemens program(03/17/10)Doubts about the Siemens program that would make energy-efficient upgrades to school buildings, and be paid for out of savings in energy costs, were expressed by some school board members at their March meeting last week. "I was real enthused when I heard they were going to replace the lights," said board member Curt Denton, who explained he lost his enthusiasm when he heard the old lights would be thrown away...

Stricter cell phone policy to hit schools(03/17/10)A stricter cell phone policy will take effect in Marshall County schools at the start of the 2010-2011 school year. The full board unanimously approved the new policy at their March meeting last week. A similar policy was recommended by the policy committee in 2009 but failed to get the full board's approval...

Fateful day remembered when Sanford announced its plan to close(03/17/10)They're down, but not out, and the plant closure was like déjà vu for some of them. Former Sanford worker Prissy Nance has been in this position before; looking for a job after a plant closure. Nance made men's shoes at the Genesco plant for 13-1/2 years. Then she worked at Weather Tamers in Lewisburg, and now she's looking back on 21 years at Sanford...

Former Sanford employees show willingness to change(03/17/10)Eighteen former Sanford employees recently completed special training to show they're ready and better able to start new jobs. The 10-week, 20-class course was practical training on how to use computer software, but it's also proof of their willingness to learn and change...

Jobless rate here now 20.3%(03/17/10)Marshall County's unemployment rate is now the highest in Tennessee and while local leaders want that compared to other counties where more people are unemployed, they're been planning a jobs program announcement. "We met with the deputy governor several months ago," Mike Wiles, executive director of the Joint Economic and Community Development Board, said Monday about a meeting with John Morgan last fall in conjunction with the state's Three-Star Program...

Obituary: Marie Davis Coggin(03/17/10)Marie Davis Coggin, 83, died Thursday, March 11, 2010, at AdamsPlace in Murfreesboro. Mrs. Coggin was a native of Marshall County and a graduate of Cornersville High School. She was a member of North Boulevard Church of Christ and most recently attended the AdamsPlace Church of Christ services. She was a loving and Christian wife, mother, and friend...

Obituary: Judy Lynn Forlines(03/17/10)Judy Lynn Forlines, 66, of Lewisburg, died Thursday, March 11, 2010, at her residence. She was preceded in death by her parents, Peter and Julia Gerchak; sister, Pat Balazs; and son-in-law, Jeremy Ferguson. She is survived by three siblings, Carol Horansky, Joanne Steirer and Dave Gerchak; and two children, Christine (Jeff) Poss and Eugene (Dawn) Forlines. ...

Obituary: Sarah L. Fisher(03/17/10)Sarah L. Fisher, 73, of Chapel Hill, died Friday, March 12, 2010, at her residence. She was preceded in death by her father, Pamla Woods; husband, William "Big Boy" Fisher; and son, Douglas Keith Oglesby. She is survived by her mother, Bertha Lee Oglesby, and sisters, Vanessa Oglesby and Mary Leen Oglesby, all of Nashville; sons, William Eugene Oglesby of Eagleville, James Walker Oglesby of Chapel Hill, and William Michael Fisher of Columbia; brother, Johnny Oglesby of Columbia; four grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.. ...

Obituary: Agnes Wakefield(03/17/10)Agnes Wakefield, formerly of Lewisburg, died Wednesday, March 10, 2010, in Alive Hospice of Nashville. Mrs. Wakefield was a native of Lake Charles, La. She was a homemaker and a member of the Church of Christ. She was preceded in death by her parents, Myers and Mary Guillory Peloquin, and husband, James Walter Wakefield...